Wondering how to fill a border that shows off your personality?
For an effortlessly modern border, pick beautiful plants with form and textures that will perform through the year, are pleasing to the habitat and create your look. Whether you have a penchant for a pastel palette or are drawn to a coronet of colour, dive into the formula that really works.
1. Opt for long-flowering star perennial performers! These are our go-tos as they max out on continuous flowering from early summer to late autumn. Think Penstemon ‘Arabesque Appleblossom’ on the whiter shades or ‘Raven’ for inky drama.
2. Find an evergreen or semi-evergreen that plumps your borders with shape and texture all year. Whether it’s finely clipped Taxus baccata globes or a more casual, looser dome such as Hebe ‘Champagne’ that’s your staple, these will give the border it’s structural form planted in large single specimens or groups of three.
3. If your border is admired from afar, blue is a great distance colour. Geranium ‘Rozanne’ or Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’ are impressive blooms that will draw you in as you wander up for a closer look.
4. A glorious grass, autumn highlights glow in the burnished gold waves of Deschampsia ‘cespitosa’. Leaving their feather like tips (think flapper-girl) for the birds to feast and frosts to work their sparkle on the textures.
5. Remember winter winners – Hellebores are so majestic with voluminous blooms from white for Christmas to healthy rose and magenta hues they bring the party in the border flowering through to spring.
6. Plant perennials in 3’s and 5’s to bring the fullness and repeat.
7. Finally make sure to check the soil. Plant with a good compost and dress with a bark mulch to help suppress weeds and optimise growing conditions for your new plant collection.
Looking to re-invent your outdoor spaces with floral colour and fragrance? Find out how a touch of soft landscaping can awaken a variety of areas and secluded garden spots.
